Some Gonski news we’ve all been waiting for

Today’s unequivocal commitment from the federal Labor opposition to funding the full Gonski is a great start to the 2016 school year and a powerful statement in an election year.

The Turnbull government announced during the summer holidays that it would not fund the final two years of Gonski. The betrayal of the Australian people who believed the claims of bi-partisan support for the full Gonski at the last federal election seemed complete.

Teacher unions around the nation have been campaigning for years to achieve fair funding for every child in every school. With this outcome in mind, the announcement today by Bill Shorten and Labor federally targets five key outcomes:

1. Focus on every single child's needs

a.Tailored support, and more one-on-one attention

2. More individual attention for students

a.Investing in schools to improve literacy and numeracyb.Early intervention for every student that needs itc.Evidence based learning for every child

3. Better trained teachers — and more of them

a.Investing in our teaching workforce for higher teaching standardsb.More professional support for teachers in classroomsc.Supporting school leaders

4. Better targeted resources and better equipped classrooms

a.Giving teachers the resources they needb.Real engagement with parents

5. More support for students with special learning needs

a.Supporting children with disability

Critically, the new policy promises to deliver the full Gonski funding on time (by the beginning of year 6) and reverse the Abbott/Turnbull government’s funding cuts to education announced in the 2014 budget. This policy commitment is also fully costed, fully funded and linked to accountability measures.

The Queensland Teachers’ Union welcomes this announcement from federal Labor. However, and critically for Queensland, the commitment only promises that a Shorten Labor federal government will negotiate a new agreement with states that didn’t sign up to the original Gonski plan.

The Palaszczuk government has made major commitments to school funding in its first budget. There is now an opportunity to right the wrong done to Queensland by the Newman government when it refused to sign up for Gonski. Now is the time to commit to school funding reform and ensure that every Queensland student gets the benefit of additional funding and support that only Gonski can deliver.

Kevin BatesPresident28 Jan 2016

QTU stands in solidarity

The Queensland Teachers’ Union wishes to express its shock at the killing of 17 people at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, and stands in solidarity with the many brave teachers who risked their own lives to protect the students in their care.

These horrific events reveal the deep commitment and bravery of members of our profession under the most extreme of circumstances, and we are proud to stand with them at this terrible time.QTU, 16 Feb 2018